The Arsenal Thread XXIII

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Maybe Wenger may buy a winger and use Walcott up top? Or would his lack of ability on the ball hinder Arsenal then when they face deep defences?

I think it'll hinder them. A lot of us probably draw on the cup final as a massive pro to starting him up top, but it's worth remembering Villa play a high line and they leave gaps in behind and as you said Walcott doesn't have the ability to drop a little deeper and include others in attack in quite the same way Giroud does. Personally Giroud is a great way of breaking down teams in numbers, as he occupies a CB and allows midfield runners to get into the box, often unmarked. Teams can figure this out though, and when he's not on the top of his game he cannot create something from nothing.

I don't think you need express pace like Theo anyway. You guys do that well, someone like Costa isn't rapid quick but he's got enough movement and speed to get in behind and you can drag defenders out of position. Would love to see someone combative like Gundogan play at CM for you lot, ball pinged in behind for Costa, drags the CB out wide and he runs into that space. Also think lone strikers should be able to interchange with wingers and that would be great for Arsenal as it would allow Sanchez to come central as well. Gone off topic but I feel Walcott can't do it all season though he's a good option, his movement and timing of runs isn't good enough hence he's constantly off-side and on the ball he's atrocious.

Reply 1741

Depleted

Original post by AR_95

So in the premier league :
Chelsea have Costa/Drogba and Remy
UTD have Rooney, RVP and Falcao
Liverpool have Sturridge, Ballotelli, Lambert
City have : Jovetic, Aguero, Dzeko

Where as all we have is Giroud, and Welbeck has been used as a winger since his return.

Yes and all of those are ****. Chelsea rely on Costa, City on Agüero and us on Rooney. He played far more minutes than Giroud btw and he's not given any bye for a goal scoring drought from the media or our own fans. The problem with him is he's one dimensional and in a bad day he's not producing anything, either for himself or for the team.

Reply 1742

sr90

Volunteer Team

Original post by AR_95

That doesn't matter, we're talking about this previous season, and the one before that where I can say you had RVP, Rooney, and Hernandez

Rooney barely played as a striker that season he was mostly a #10. Welbeck was played up front for a fair chunk of games that year.

Reply 1743

AR_95

Original post by Depleted

Doesn't matter if they're **** rofl, they're still options and players to rotate with. Don't ever remember Giroud "getting a bye" from the media either.

Whether it's burnout, or poor spells of form yes he his responsible for both in some way or the other. So him being "one dimensional" already correlates to the fact that I've said a new striker would be a nice alternative.

Reply 1744

Depleted

Original post by AR_95

I said teams rely on a sole striker to lead the line and that's irrelevant to them being rested or rotated (which they weren't anyway btw, Sergio and Wazza were rarely taken off), there's really no excuse for such barren spells at a top club and usually indicates unsatisfactory levels. Tbf you've always admitted Olivier isn't good enough, this is more aimed at the Giroud fanboys on here.

Reply 1745

angelfox

Original post by Fizzel

Giroud gets way too much protection from fans, under the guise of "burnout". Only last season did he play a high number of minutes, but 13' he wasn't coming off the back of a international competition so even then it wasn't an unusually high number of minutes over a full season. The season before he moved to Arsenal he played over 3200 mins without burning out.

He need to be rotated, because he's not that good. Outside of his hot streaks he isn't good enough with scoring and he he can't score at that rate fo2r an entire season. Its form not physical fatigue.

No he doesn't, he's easily our team's biggest scapegoat

Reply 1746

Jgco2chem

A lot of fans will agree a title winning squad has a world class goal keeper that denies chances that should of been taken by the opposition and a World class Striker that can score that goal from nothing when it isn't our day. Until the day Wenger win's a title with good striker and decent goal keeper (Giroud and Sczcersny)

My dream is...well I doubt this will happen but Man city are on the down unless they spend another £100mil to buy a new spine, Yaya toure finally showing he is an ageing player and city only have 2 good players left in their squad D.Silva and Aguero, we don't need Silva but its worth trying to bid £50mil for Aguero.
Surely Aguero will see that we have the better team to challenge for the title.

Its not just about getting a world class striker but getting revenge on city for labeling arsenal as a selling club and its about time we turn the tables on them and they can fall in premier league lose their financial backing. Its about getting rid of a title rival I rather have a 3 horse race then a 4 horse race. We need to buy a top player from a rival to show we are BACK!

Reply 1747

AR_95

Aguero will be worth more than £50m but he's their main player, I doubt City will ever want to sell him, especially to a PL side. They'll get around the money issue but not by selling Aguero.

Reply 1748

username1315644

Original post by angelfox

No he doesn't, he's easily our team's biggest scapegoat

I thought that was Ozil?

Original post by jam277

United I can see Depay being a real hit. Again though no real cohesion in the team, although signs of it were showing the final stretch of the season. They frankly have too many players to fit into the team so I think there will be inconsistencies in their play, even though they most likely would have a team capable of challenging the title.

I'm not counting on anything from Depay, he's a nice prospect to have signed but I don't think we should be expecting much from a 21 year old in his first PL season. Our team is unbalanced, I said before, we have a illusion of depth, but so little ability to take injuries or suspensions without having to rejig our team. You need consistency for a title run, and we are nowhere near having that.

Original post by Numan786

Arsenal fans have a tendency to overrate their players.

That is true of every fans base tbh.

Original post by sevchenko

Too often people measure a Giroud's quality through his scoring rate. His hold up and link up play as a target man has been just as important as his goals. Giroud imo is a very effective striker.

Strikers live and die by goals. Being a one dimensional poacher is one thing, when you are using link up play and such to justify a lack of goals you're scraping the barrel, its the same thing people use to justify Welbeck. A lone striker for a top side need to be scoring every 100-120 mins, thats what RVP, Rooney have done for us in their effective seasons, Aguero, Kane, Costa, SAS. Giroud has never done that, even this season with the benefit of limited minutes he's fallen short of that. He's provided 13 assists in his Arsenal PL career, he's not some Rooney Jekyll and Hyde playmaker/goalscorer.

Original post by AR_95

No burnout is not an excuse, but point stands. It would be good to have an alternative during his poor spells of the season,

I wasn't specifically taking shots at you btw. I think that is a better read of the situation. I just think 'burnout' is over used, I remember if being applied to Chamakh after his first 6 months, when it was evident it was just a lack of quality and the form couldn't last. If players are playing back to back 3000+ mins seasons with a WC or Euro in between then it could be a fair point, but that it. You need an outright upgrade or an alternative, could be Walcott tbf.

Reply 1749

samir12

Original post by AR_95

Aguero will be worth more than £50m but he's their main player, I doubt City will ever want to sell him, especially to a PL side. They'll get around the money issue but not by selling Aguero.

If City are selling Aguero, he'll be going to Madrid, won't be this season though, maybe next season.

Reply 1750

sevchenko

Original post by Fizzel

But is there a lack of goals though? 17 in his first season, 22 last season and 19 this season all comps is a more than decent return for any striker especially one that cost less than £10M. Giroud's goal per min ratio was 125 all comps this season according to transfermarkt.

Then I again where I have said Giroud is on the likes of Aguero or SAS level. I just think people fail to see his value or appreciated it compared to some other players Arsenal who can get away with poor performances. It just seems as if Giroud is always fighting uphill battle to prove himself. It doesn't help when you have Arsenal's all time striker sending shots in order to spice up his failing punditry career either.

People seem to think my appreciation of Giroud means I want him to lead the line for the entire season. If any player of World class quality becomes available I think Arsenal should buy them regardless of who get's upset. Wenger did that with Ozil and Alexis. Who wouldn't be open to a world class striker coming in, my point is Giroud has an important role in the first 11 regardless

Reply 1751

Depleted

Original post by sevchenko

His goal record is okay, don't understand the £10m line as nobody has argued his performances haven't reflected his cost; on the contrary he's shown himself to be a "£10m striker" (obviously take into account inflation); that is a backup striker who's out of his depth on the biggest stage. The problem with his scoring rate that many take exception to us his consistency; scoring in bursts isn't sufficient for a club with title challenging aspirations. It's unfair to heap blame on Giroud as I don't think it's his fault he's not good enough, rather Arsene has to shoulder the blame, especially if nobody comes in this summer.

Reply 1752

leinad2012

Whenever someone says sas it just make me cringe soooooo hard, such a fgty term, up there with "wills and kate" daily mail standard bs.
There's no denying we need 2 top strikers, genuinely think Walcott would be a 20 pl goal a season player confortably if put up top. Laca would be perfect really, can play up top or on wing but he seems happy where he is, dont see himpving this summer.

Gk is a must though, Cech rumours heating up nicely

Reply 1753

Depleted

Original post by leinad2012

Whenever someone says sas it just make me cringe soooooo hard, such a fgty term, up there with "wills and kate" daily mail standard bs.

What's the need for homophobic language? Luke has used it before on here and now you have, I don't know why you think it's acceptable to just causally drop into a conversation but it's not.

Reply 1754

difeo

Original post by Depleted

What's the need for homophobic language? Luke has used it before on here and now you have, I don't know why you think it's acceptable to just causally drop into a conversation but it's not.